uspol, inflation, RU
I don't know if this is a good move politically, but from an economic standpoint it's idiotic. Gasoline prices are high because demand is high relative to supply. Suspending the tax acts as a subsidy for demand but does nothing about supply. Historically, subsidizing demand while doing nothing about supply just serves to drive up prices as well as producer and distributor profits. Which includes Russia, because oil is a global market and Russia still has plenty of buyers.
Prediction: the Democrats will blame oil company greed and use their increased profits as justification for enacting an "excess profits" tax, which will just mean they're taxing gasoline on the back end rather than the front end. No matter what, consumers lose and Russia wins.
Biden to urge Congress to suspend gas tax for three months
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jun/22/biden-congress-gas-tax-price-fuel?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other
uspol, inflation, RU, airlines
The administration shouldn't be subsiding fossil fuel demand at all. They shouldn't subsidize supply either, but it would be less harmful provided they do it in a way that's actually effective. The best thing to do would be to directly support the most vulnerable to carry them through this difficult time. Let the wealthy and big companies fend for themselves.
Airlines are going to go bankrupt. We should let them. There aren't enough pilots to go around anyway. Time for Americans to start flying less. Let's nationalize the rail network and bring back passenger rail travel instead.
